Archives

Meta

The Science, Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service Program is an opportunity for students pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines to receive a full scholarship and be gainfully employed upon degree completion.

Engineers are responsible for building planes, trains, and automobiles, but what about those who are more aquatically inclined? Budding Captain Nemos may want to consider pursuing Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, a field of study dedicated to the design, construction, and maintenance of ships.

Since we haven’t mentioned this particular engineering discipline on our blog before, we’d like to take a moment to provide our readers with a brief overview of what it’s like to be a naval architect and a marine engineer.

Recently, the blogosphere has been all atwitter about the world’s first amphibious ice cream truck, which first set sail on the Thames last month. It was created by Cadbury ice cream in celebration of National Ice Cream Week (May 30th – June 5th). This summer it will be touring UK beaches and selling tasty treats on land and sea.

Two years ago, Air France Flight 447 was on its way back to Paris from Rio de Janeiro when it completely disappeared — without issuing a Mayday call or leaving even a trace on radar. After three search attempts, by boat, mini-sub, and sonar (in an effort to detect the ultrasonic signal emitted by the plane’s black boxes), the jetliner was finally discovered on April 3, 2011 with the help of an autonomous submarine called the Remus 6000.

Hankering for an undersea adventure this summer? Since catching a ride on the Virgin Oceanic sub is out of the question, a good alternative might be trying the new and somewhat hilarious-looking Aqua Star underwater scooter.

The AS1 (pictured above) is a one-person underwater vehicle that can cruise at up to 4 mph as riders take in marine vistas.